I have two of these with 1/4" outputs that I got in a trade from a guy, and honestly I've never even heard the TI99 chip. They seem like flakey machines, and one of them won't even boot, but I am wondering if anyone can direct me to where I can hear music composed on this thing, because I am wondering if it is even worth tracking down software and learning to use it.
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philly
rushcoil... i'd say no its not worth it unless you just wanted it for TI's speech synthesis... you can get an add-on for that - the internal sounchip is the same as sega mastersystem and gamegear - in the case that you like this sound i would use MOD2PSG2 or XPMCK
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SN76489
"The SN76489 was originally designed to be used in the TI-99/4 computer, where it was first called the TMS9919 and later SN94624. Later, when it was sold outside of TI, it was renamed the SN76489."
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Minneapolis
I would say that if you have one, why not use it? That's what got me into the IIgs.
It's not the easiest machine to play around with, but that's a plus in my mind. Of course, I'm also a retro computer nut in general, and have been known to pick up old computers I know nothing about just out of the principle of the thing. I would say, hop on google and you shall learn all. Or nearly all. Also, check the Vintage Computer forums (google em) wherein you will probably find everything and more on TI machines. Good luck!
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PDX
arfink wrote:
I would say that if you have one, why not use it? That's what got me into the IIgs.
I have Music Maker and Sorgan II - is this what people are using? I am definitely going to give it a try. Someone went to the trouble of modding it, so it must not be a complete waste.
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Minneapolis
I don't know. If you have 'em, use 'em. I'm excited to see what'll become of it.
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Milwaukee, Wisconsin USA
I have one. but i only use it w/ terminal II and my speech synth for txt to speech stuff.
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New York City
It's not a matter of "if you have it, use it". Many times there's no software to make music or whatever you want to do with it. This is a clear case of a machine that lacks a tracker and that has an equivalent sounding chip to another machine that might be easier to use.
I used to have two of them but got rid of them because they were just gathering dust.
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Milwaukee, Wisconsin USA
akira^8GB wrote:
It's not a matter of "if you have it, use it". Many times there's no software to make music or whatever you want to do with it. This is a clear case of a machine that lacks a tracker and that has an equivalent sounding chip to another machine that might be easier to use.
I used to have two of them but got rid of them because they were just gathering dust.
Yeah mine definitely doesn't get used much but the speech synth is REALLY powerful if you understand how it works.
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New York City
Isn't the speech module similar to that of the Intellivision?
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Milwaukee, Wisconsin USA
akira^8GB wrote:
Isn't the speech module similar to that of the Intellivision?
It's the same speech engine inside of a speak and spell.. only you can control everything and make it say anything you want.
i haven't looked at the exact specs in a long time though. I just know that if you are clever with your phonics you can get this puppy to sound
really really awesome. Only downside is you're programming in TI Basic which can get a little annoying after a while. a Copy Paste function would be fantastic! hahaha
there for i recommend emulation when possible.
I need to just sell my TI-99 off as i just can't justify the shelf space anymore.
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Minneapolis
Hrmf, nobody around here seems to appreciate the joy of coding, I guess. I learned how to code on a system that had little to no editing features, the Apple IIe. I made some pretty huge programs. You DO actually get used to it after a while.
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Los Angeles
I have a ti99a with music maker...pretty bland sound actually. I don't know what is possible to do with the chip's tone quality, but the cart only lets you program notes. There are no sound editing features...
Last edited by 8bitweapon (Jan 27, 2010 4:45 pm)
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New York City
I did appreciate the joy of coding when I had tons of free time. Nowadays, it seems pointless for me to do trivial tasks that can be accomplished with easier methods! I guess I'm out of shape 
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Minneapolis
Well, if you want to "get back into it" you should look into the Retrochallenge. It's like a twice a year retro-computery workout, with prizes at the end! Keeps ya motivated, at any rate. Hanging out with people who are more into retro computers than music also might help, since music folks want to work on music, and not on the code. 
I'm not much of a music man, if you hadn't guessed, I'm in it for the old hardware.
Of course, this is also coming from a guy who uses the Apple IIgs as his "daily driver" on most days, and shies away from using a new computer whenever he can help it.
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New York City
People who are into retro computing are usually into collecting, and not doing ANYTHING productive with them. At the most, they GAME with them. I hate them, to be honest 
You are a very special case, let me say.
The only solution for me is the DEMOSCENE, which I am trying to get back to, slowly. You should join, it would flex you muscles much more 
I never learned any sort of ASM but I did learn C and went onto basic shit like abstract datatypes.
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Minneapolis
Haha, you don't know the guys I know. Still, coding muscle isn't always the strong point for those guys. I wish I knew some more languages. I'm hacking away in Basic without much effort, and beginning to get into Pascal, since aside from full out assembler it's one of the best languages to work with on the Apple IIgs. Even Orca C isn't as fast as Apple Pascal.
In fact, for a long time all of Apple's system software and toolkits were written in Pascal. Dang.
Last edited by arfink (Jan 27, 2010 8:07 pm)